Quote Originally Posted by Cataphract View Post
By common convention it is the other way round. It is laid out neatly in the book "Body by Science" which I can only recommend to everyone. They do something like 45-60 seconds under load until complete muscle failure once a week (or something like that, will look it up) for the big muscle groups. Thus every fiber group will be evenly stressed for hypertrophy in minimal time.


I don't think that's entirely true, also from my own experience. Many if not most body builders do a lot of reps. There's the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy theory.

I've just added some endurance elements in my upper body training and it feels good and it seems to help in other areas as well. I don't know, but I just call it warmup.
bodybuilders don't do high reps for size though. they do high reps for "definition". low reps, high weight = power. moderate reps, fairly heavy weight = size, high reps, low weight = endurance and to a bodybuilder, definition. That being said, I guess you would have to define high rep, as the rep range for size is typically 8 - 12. when I say high rep, I mean greater than 15, and 25 was mentioned earlier in regard to pushups. The muscles are stubborn and lazy - you have to force them to grow. when they are used to a weight, a rep range, etc. they happily maintain themselves there. when you add that extra weight, for example, that's when the muscles realize that something change and the response to that stimulation is growth. power is short bursts of strength - quick, powerful contractions. fatigue sets in quickly, preventing you from doing those activities for long. if you can perform a lift for 25 reps, the intensity isn't there.

as for the other, yes, I actually meant it the other way around. that's what happens when you reply to threads while trying not to curse out a mechanic.